Wednesday, November 01, 2006

LeBron James = Sascha Baron CohenA.K.A. "The 'Bron-Bron/Borat Theory"

Have you seen the new ad campaign for LeBron James' new shoes? Cripes, how could you have missed it? And it's been launched for about 2 seconds. A slick TV ad campaign, online ads everywhere. (And, if you don't get tired of it, it's extremely well done.)

Most notably, the LeBron ad campaign going to take over tonight's 6 p.m. SportsCenter: Every ad on the show will be for the new shoes; it's unprecedented on the network.

(There was a rumor that LeBron himself will make cameos throughout the show as the various characters he plays in the ad campaign. ESPN denies that level of advertorial will be happening, however.)

If you've seen the TV ads (or remember from last year), you know what I'm talking about when I reference his "characters": Nike has created 3 LeBron alter-egos -- sides of his personality, I think is what they're supposed to represent.

Then I had an epiphany:

With the hysteria over the new "Borat" movie and the hysteria over "LeBron" dove-tailing at virtually the same (pop-)cultural moment, I realized that Sascha Baron Cohen is the LeBron James of comedy. Or perhaps vice versa. Both have genius-level ability in their respective fields.

But look one level deeper: The similarities between their alter-ego characters/archetypes is striking:

(1) "The Jabbering Fool"LBJ: "Wise LeBron"SBC: "Ali G"

"Wise LeBron" -- LeBron's most popular character is made up to look like a gray-bearded senior -- is supposed to represent LeBron's commitment to the "old school." (Watching the ads, he delivers subtly gifted physical comedy in an impression of how aging players move their bodies.) In one edition of the new TV ad campaign, "Wise" comments on a dunk: "Ain't been nothing good like that since 'Sanford and Son.'" He is a constant, chattering, trash-talking presence, yet ironically laced with mockery toward old-school values.

"Ali G" is Cohen's flagship character (at least he WAS, until Borat Mania hit). He is a hip-hop wannabe, with all of that archetype's professed interest in "keeping it real." If "Wise LeBron" is supposed to be an O.G., Ali G is supposed to represent the younger generation's adulterated attempt to emulate and honor the old school. It's all captured in his not-quite-right catch-phrase: "Respeck."

(2) "The Effete Aesthete"LBJ: "Business LeBron"SBC: "Bruno"

"Business LeBron" is the most fascinating of LeBron's alter egos: Nattily and proudly dressed in European-style suits, he speaks in a high, soft -- and intentionally effeminate? -- whisper. He is constantly on the cell phone (Doing deals? Wooing sexual partners across the spectrum?) and seems to disdain his fellow LeBrons. After losing a dunk contest to "Athletic LeBron," he complains, "Dunk contests are bourgeois." Representative of the superficiality of athletic culture, he intentionally sets himself apart from the other LeBrons.

"Bruno" is an Austrian fashion reporter, created to prod Americans' fears and hostilities toward (a) Europeans and (b) gay people. Similarly to "Business LeBron," he has an accent affected to play up his effeminate side. He is an outsider, attempting to expose or highlight the superficiality of U.S. culture. (Bruno is also scheduled to be Cohen's next movie; he just sold the distribution rights for $50 million.)

(3) "The Mischievous Naif"LBJ: "Kid LeBron"SBC: "Borat"

"Kid LeBron" is sort of strange to look at. It's LeBron's head on what appears to be a CGI mash-up with a kid's body. (In the linked clip, "Kid" seems to have perhaps been inspired by Lily Tomlin's Emily Ann on Sesame Street.) "Kid" is presumably supposed to embody LeBron's playful side – the arrested development that comes with being a "prep-to-pro" player and, despite his best-in-league talent, his continuing status as one of the NBA's youngest players.

"Borat" is similarly intellectually stunted or underdeveloped – but because of his cultural ignorance, rather than because of his age. The character is able to endear himself to so many of the people he meets precisely because of the perception (or projection) of his child-like innocence. Those who end up mocked don't see it coming; they are taken in by Borat's naive charm.

Update: Brian from YAY!Sports smartly noted one more fascinating similarity that I overlooked, but shouldn't have: Both LeBron and Cohen are extremely guarded about their real personalities are like. And thus the characters...

There you have it. Ah, in my previous life, this would have made a hell of a fun analysis for Page 2. My consolation: I can make truthful pronouncements like "Both LeBron and Sascha Baron Cohen are f'ing geniuses."

6:34 -- Our first "Borat" ad. That movie is like LeBron back in 2003 or Greg Oden right now -- just a sure thing coming out of the gate. I only wish Chad Ford reviewed movies: "Borat has an almost freakish comedic upside!"

The interesting thing about the "LeBrons" ad campaign as a whole is that it's really hard to pinpoint what the ad is actually SELLING. It could be shoes. It could be headbands. It could be shorts, jerseys, all the nike gear present (basketball? Has anyone noticed if the actual ball has a swoosh?), but doesn't it seem like the ad is selling LeBron himself? His super-stardom has already reached a point (and did probably when he was 17) where everyone is painfully curious, and in that regard, kudos to not only LeBron, but to Nike as well for selling THE MAN. For LeBron it allows him to remain the biggest thing on the planet (which only helps his sport), so long as he does ANYTHING on the court, and for Nike, they get to ride his coattails in some regard, allowing them to not only sell his shoes, but to sell everything he lays his fingers on.

Gag me! What happened to actual sports on ESPN? I remember when ESPN showed actual sports and Sportcenter displayed an hour of highlights. Poker is not a sport. It is fun, but not a sport. Touching stories about fans are not sports. It is nice to see, but it seems like there is more drama on ESPN than on TNT, ... TNT, ... TNT. It is a joke. All of these movies, series, talk shows and crap following a person around is junk. All of this junk showing the individual above the team is destroying sports. 24 hours of TO, LeBron, A-Rod, Reggie Bush, Sebastian, Bonds,... is sickening and is not SPORTS. I want sports highlight on Sportcenter and actual competition on the channel. I suggest that if ESPN want to show this junk, start a new channel called ESPN Drama. Then those of us that want to watch sports can ACTUALLY watch sports.

Nike knows how to market merchandise and mega-stars. If you can recall the 90's, you'll remember a series of commercials featuring Charles Barkley.Those Nike ads did more to make Barkley a household name than anything he did on the court and the current series will do the same for LeBron. Frankly, they're funny and LeBron does a great job playing the characters. As for Cohen and the "Borat" character... well, yeah, it's funny but Andy Kaufman's "Latka Gravis" (sp?) character on "Taxi" was funny for a while, too.Just sayin'..................

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.